PROVO, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 4, 2026--
Ionic Mineral Technologies, LLC (“Ionic MT”) today announced the appointment of Michael Stephan Wright as Chief Development Officer — Mining, effective March 8, 2026. Mr. Wright will report to CEO Andre Zeitoun and lead the Company’s execution organization for the Silicon Ridge scale-up, including Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management (EPCM) strategy, permitting and regulatory execution, resource development, extraction and concentration operations, and stakeholder engagement.
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Mr. Wright brings more than 25 years of global project-delivery experience, having advanced large-scale mining and processing programs valued up to $6 billion. Most recently, as Vice President — Projects at Perpetua Resources, he led the ~$2.2 billion Stibnite Gold Project through design development, financing readiness and early works, and helped secure more than $800 million in project equity. His background includes senior roles at Teck Resources, Newmont Goldcorp, Fluor, Ausenco and Bechtel across commodities including gold, copper, alumina and rare-earth elements.
Located in Utah’s Lake Mountains district, Silicon Ridge is a permitted, halloysite-hosted ion-adsorption-clay (“IAC-Plus”) deposit confirmed to contain one of North America’s most advanced concentrations of rare earths and critical technology metals. Independent assay work has identified both light and heavy rare earths alongside gallium, germanium, scandium, rubidium, cesium, lithium, vanadium, tungsten and niobium at grades and enrichment factors comparable to leading global IAC deposits. A validated 650-acre core within a 13,000-acre state-leased position underpins a shovel-ready, large-scale development pathway.
Silicon Ridge’s low-temperature ion-exchange extraction avoids high-heat roasting and heavy acids, enabling faster, lower-emission recovery and the potential for co-production of multiple high-value product streams from a single halloysite feedstock.
“ Silicon Ridge is a cornerstone of America’s effort to build sovereign supply chains for strategic materials, ” said Andre Zeitoun, CEO of Ionic MT. “Michael brings the technical discipline, financing experience and owner-team leadership needed to move Silicon Ridge from pilot to financeable, large-scale production. Under his guidance, we will accelerate safe, bankable execution while preserving strong community and regulatory engagement.”
“ I’m honored to join Ionic MT at this pivotal moment, ” said Michael Wright. “My immediate priorities are to establish an execution-ready owner’s organization, finalize EPCM and contracting strategies, and deliver a clear, financeable pathway from extraction and concentration to commercial production. Silicon Ridge’s halloysite feedstock not only hosts critical metals and rare earths but enables co-production of IonAL™ high-purity alumina and Ionisil™ nano-silicon—together forming a vertically integrated U.S. supply chain for advanced technologies.”
Ionic MT’s vertically integrated model converts halloysite into multiple co-products: recovered critical metals and rare earths via patented low-emission extraction, IonAL™ high-purity alumina for advanced ceramics and semiconductors, and Ionisil™ nano-silicon for next-generation lithium-ion anodes. This approach maximizes value while minimizing waste and environmental impact.
About Ionic Mineral Technologies
Ionic MT is developing Silicon Ridge in Utah as the nation’s first commercially advanced halloysite hosted polymetallic, IAC-Plus project producing rare earths, critical metals, IonAL™ Alumina, and Ionisil™ nano-silicon from a single, low-emission process. The Company’s goal is to establish sovereign U.S. supply chains for materials critical to electrification, defense and advanced manufacturing. For more information, visit www.ionicmt.com.
Michael Stephan Wright, Chief Development Officer — Mining at Ionic Mineral Technologies
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor was just days away from returning home to her husband and two children when a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait killed her and five other U.S. service members.
“She was almost home,” her husband, Joey Amor, said from their home in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, on Tuesday. “You don’t go to Kuwait thinking something’s going to happen, and for her to be one of the first – it hurts.”
Amor was one of four U.S. soldiers killed in the Iran war on Sunday and identified Tuesday by the Pentagon; two soldiers haven't yet been publicly identified. The members of the Army Reserve worked in logistics and kept troops supplied with food and equipment.
They died just one day after the U.S. and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran. Iran responded by launching missiles and drones against Israel and several Gulf Arab states that host U.S. armed forces.
Those killed also included Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, lowa, who was posthumously promoted from specialist. No other names were released.
“These men and women all bravely volunteered to defend our country, and their sacrifice will never be forgotten,” Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said.
All were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, which provides food, fuel, water and ammunition, transport equipment and supplies.
“Sadly, there will likely be more, before it ends. That’s the way it is,” President Donald Trump said of deaths.
Coady had just told his father last week that he had been recommended for a promotion from specialist to sergeant, a rank he received posthumously.
He was one of the youngest people in his class but seemed to impress his instructors, his father Andrew Coady said Tuesday.
“He was very good at what he did," he said.
Coady trained as an information technology specialist with the Army Reserves and was studying cybersecurity at Drake University in Des Moines. He was taking online classes while in Kuwait and wanted to become an officer.
“I still don’t fully think it’s real,” his sister Keira Coady said. “I just remember all of our conversations about what he was going to do when he came back.”
Amor, 39, was an avid gardener who enjoyed making salsa from the peppers and tomatoes in her garden with her son, a senior in high school. She also enjoyed rollerblading and bicycling with her fourth-grade daughter.
A week before the drone attack, Amor was moved off-base to a shipping container-style building that had no defenses, Joey Amor said.
“They were dispersing because they were in fear that the base they were on was going to get attacked and they felt it was safer in smaller groups in separate places,” he said.
He last spoke to her about two hours before she was killed. He said she was working long shifts and they had been messaging about her tripping and falling the night before.
“She just never responded in the morning,” he said.
Khork was very patriotic and drawn from a young age to serving the U.S., his family said in a statement Tuesday.
He enlisted in the Army Reserve and joined Florida Southern College’s ROTC program.
“That commitment helped shape the course of his life and reflected the deep sense of duty that was always at the core of who he was,” said his mother, Donna Burhans, father, James Khork, and stepmother, Stacey Khork, in a statement.
Khork also loved history and had a degree in political science.
His family described him as “the life of the party, known for his infectious spirit, generous heart, and deep care for those who served alongside him and for everyone blessed to know him.”
One of Khork’s friends, Abbas Jaffer, posted on Facebook on Monday that he had lost the best person he had ever known.
“My best friend, best man, and brother gave his life defending our country overseas,” Jaffer said. Khork and Jaffer had been friends for more than 16 years.
Tietjens lived with his family in the Washington Terrace mobile home park in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue, Nebraska. He was married with a son, according to a Facebook page.
Tietjens earned a black belt in Philippine Combatives and Taekwondo and was “an instructor who gave his time, discipline, and leadership to others,” the Philippine Martial Arts Alliance said in a Facebook post.
On the mat and as a soldier, “he carried the same values: honor, discipline, service, and commitment to others,” the organization said.
Nebraska Gov. Gov. Pillen paid tribute to the family Tuesday.
“Noah stepped up to serve and defend the American people from foreign enemies around the world — a sacrifice we must never forget," he wrote.
“We are holding the Tietjens family close in our hearts during this unbelievably difficult time and will keep them in our prayers," he said.
Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho, and Toropin from Washington. Associated Press reporters Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Ed White in Detroit; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; David Fischer in Miami and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
Keira Coady talks about her brother, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, outside her home, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Andrew Coady and his daughter Keira, right, talk about his son, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, outside their home, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Keira Coady holds a photo of her brother, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, outside her home, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Keira Coady talks about her brother, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, outside her home, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
This image provided by U.S. Central Command shows aircraft on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) that are operating in support of the war in Iran, on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (U.S. Navy via AP)
